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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28473552">I'll Be Home For Christmas</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/miaouerie/pseuds/miaouerie'>miaouerie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Childhood Trauma, Christmas Angst, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Couch Cuddles, F/M, Friends as Family, Rebelcaptain Secret Santa, Sleepy Cuddles, Worry, the girl spoons the guy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 14:27:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,174</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28473552</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/miaouerie/pseuds/miaouerie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Left at home while Cassian is away for a work assignment, Jyn worries and bakes while she anticipates the arrival of his flight. But no one should be alone on Christmas Eve, and their friends are more than willing to help out with that.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I'll Be Home For Christmas</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callioope/gifts">Callioope</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my Rebelcaptain Secret Santa gift for tumblr user callioope, with the prompt <i>"I'll be home for Christmas" and established relationship</i>. I hope you enjoy it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Cream room temperature butter and sugar; stir in vanilla and water. Toast pecans, add to flour, mix until blended. Cover and chill.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit; coat in powdered sugar immediately after and once again when cooled.</em>
</p><p>Jyn tucks the recipe card back in, before huffing a sigh and tugging it out of the spiralbound notebook. This cookie recipe wasn’t particularly difficult—shortbread was really just flour, butter, and sugar—but with her head where it’s at, starting from the beginning is proving difficult.</p><p>She’s had the ingredients and parchment paper and sheet pans out on the counter for hours, but she can’t bring herself to start. Today is the day that Cassian is flying home and her stomach is knotted in nerves. They had spoken on the phone last night via video call which helped soothe her worries, and while they avoided talking about the flight it still lingered in those moments of silence where she could only stare at his face on the tiny display of her phone anxiously.</p><p>
  <em>You’re still going to bake the cookies though, aren’t you? Even if I won’t be there to snack on the pecans.</em>
</p><p><em>Of course</em>, she had laughed, and his smile warmed her heart. <em>Don’t worry, I’ll save some for you when you get back</em>.</p><p>She had better get started.</p><p>--</p><p>“Jyn? Little sister? Hope you don’t mind if we let ourselves in!”</p><p>Jyn is awoken by the sound of the front door unlocking; the words are barely comprehendible to her before the door opens to reveal Chirrut and Baze, with the latter in a garish red Santa suit.</p><p>“See, didn’t I say she was asleep?”</p><p>“I told you, the only reason why Jyn Erso would leave a text message unread for four hours is to take a nap,” Baze calls over to her good-naturedly. There’s no ill-meaning in his words, but his words drop their playful tilt when he sees her face. “How are you holding up?”</p><p>As Jyn ushers them into the kitchen, Chirrut sniffs in the direction of a pan of cookies, cooled by the open window. “This batch was baked for you two so feel free to go for it,” she says with a gesture. “And I’m… doing alright. Sorry I haven’t wrapped these up yet, I fell asleep…”</p><p>“Keeping vigil is an exhausting job,” Chirrut says after swallowing a mouthful of cookie. “Especially if you are doing it alone.”</p><p>Jyn can’t say anything to that. The apartment was silent before the pair’s arrival; playing Christmas music only reminded her of how alone she was. It hadn’t seemed that long ago that her and Cassian had spent a whole day buying tinsel and garlands and lights to decorate for the holidays, even driving up north to get a modestly-sized tree.</p><p><em>I’ll be gone for ten days and no more</em>, Cassian had said afterwards when they were settled up on the sofa, with mugs of hot chocolate and a warm blanket. <em>I told Draven I wouldn’t take any returning flights later than Christmas Eve. And this will be the only assignment I take abroad</em>.<em> That was my other condition; not when everything I care about is here.</em></p><p>Baze’s voice breaks Jyn out of her thoughts. “I have some time to stop by the corner store before I go to the youth center. Do you need anything other than milk?”</p><p>“I’m out? I could’ve sworn I just bought a…” Jyn stops when she sees Baze pour a chunk of dairy out of a carton into the sink. “Wow. Er… did you want to drink something else?”</p><p>“Let’s put the kettle on,” Chirrut says reassuringly.</p><p>--</p><p>Despite feeling ill-prepared for company, Jyn is grateful for it; conversations with Chirrut make the minutes fly by as hours, and when she gets the next batch of cookies in the oven the smell of baking buoys her spirits.</p><p>That is, until she gets a text message from Kay. It comes just a few minutes before Cassian’s, and both contain the same message:</p><p>
  <em>Layover flight delayed; plane still on tarmac and needs to be de-iced. Winter storm incoming.</em>
</p><p>Kay’s supposed to be picking up Cassian from the airport; that makes two of them stuck waiting. Horrible, horrible, horrible. Of course something was going to happen; she just knew it—</p><p>“Jyn, did you want me to get the door?” Chirrut asks.</p><p>But neither of them have to; it’s Bodhi.</p><p>--</p><p>Her best friend takes one look at her face and then declares, “Well, I think I got here just in time to warm up some spiced wine. Hey, did you make those beautifully delicious thumbprint cookies just for me?”</p><p>Bodhi’s brought three bottles of red wine and a small bag of spices; he digs around in the cupboard for a clean pot and the gas stove turns on with a few clicks. It’s hard to be a good host when she’s preoccupied with thoughts of her boyfriend’s journey home indeterminately postponed, but Bodhi and Chirrut don’t seem to mind.</p><p>As it begins to darken outside, the trio move to the couch and Jyn turns on the fireplace. Bodhi brings out a deck of cards and when Baze returns from his Santa shift volunteering at the youth center, it’s almost an ideal Christmas—sharing the holiday with friends, cookies, and cheery booze, all helping to take her mind off the one person who’s missing. But when late afternoon falls into evening and then to suppertime, Jyn readies herself for her friends’ departure. She tries not to show it, but her inner turmoil must be apparent on her face when Baze asks innocently, “Do you have anything planned for your Christmas Eve dinner?”</p><p>“Not really. I thought… Cassian was supposed to land in an hour; he was going to prepare something, but his flight’s been delayed.”</p><p>It’s quiet save for the crackle of wood in the fireplace.</p><p>Jyn swallows, looking down and away. “I’d invite you to stay for dinner, if you didn’t already have plans, but…”</p><p>Unseen to her, the three friends share a look. Well, Baze and Bodhi do at least. “Is Chinese takeaway alright?”</p><p>--</p><p>Bodhi’s boyfriend Luke is a character, and Jyn isn’t saying that just because he arrived with two bags of takeaway and the most outlandish story of just how many times he almost slipped on the pavement just to catch their precious, delicious-smelling delivery in the nick of time. They’ve been dating for almost ten months now, and despite the crazy tales of ‘Skywalker family drama’ that Bodhi regales her with, he seems to be alright.</p><p>After dinner Jyn loads one more batch of cookies into the oven while the party gravitates back towards the warmth of the fireplace. Between the warmth of being cozied up between her dearest friends, and the warmth of the alcohol, she shouldn’t feel so wistful for the presence of someone who she knows <em>will</em> come home soon, and yet…</p><p>“Hey Jyn, do you play guitar?”</p><p>Jyn shakes her head no at the seemingly-random question, but when she sees the guitar where Luke is standing by the yearning strikes deep in her heart.</p><p>“No, it’s Cassian’s,” she says softly. And as if on cue, the silence in the room is interrupted by the <em>ding</em> of the oven timer.</p><p>--</p><p>When she returns with a plate of cookies and two boxes of packed-up cookies, Luke immediately apologizes.</p><p>“Jyn I’m so sorry, Bodhi told me not to ask about Cassian and I didn’t mean to bring him up, I—”</p><p>“It’s fine.” Jyn smiles at him as she sets the goods down. “He’s tried to teach me before, but I’m not nearly as patient to learn as he is patient with me.”</p><p>She doesn’t look at anyone when she speaks again. “He’s not here yet because his flight’s been delayed. And… my parents and I were in a plane crash when I was eight. One hundred people on board; ninety-two casualties that included both my parents.</p><p>“Needless to say, I’m not a fan of flying. And,” she sighs, looking at the guitar, “Cassian knows that too. ‘It’s just one overseas assignment,’ he said. But it’s terrible timing.”</p><p>“He won’t do it again,” Chirrut says. “I’m sure of it. He misses you terribly—he feels <em>terrible</em> for missing you this terribly.”</p><p>“How do you know that?” Luke asks, sounding mystified.</p><p>“Though a medium long known to be revelatory, yet easily accessible to nearly all.” Chirrut turns to him seriously. “We spoke on the phone two days ago.”</p><p>Laughter breaks away the rest of the tension and conversation flows once more, until Jyn can settle back on the sofa and let herself relax too. Luke didn’t mean anything by it, and at least he didn’t offer any unwanted pity; she didn’t owe him an explanation either for her worries, but he shoots her a compassionate glance when he picks up the guitar and begins to strum the beginning notes of a song.</p><p>--</p><p>After a few rounds of acoustic karaoke polish off the rest of the spiced wine, the night draws close to conclusion. Chirrut and Baze are the first to depart, wanting to take the last train home before night service hours began. Luke is somewhat of a lightweight and apparently a sleepy drunk, so after three mugs of wine he’s nodding off on Bodhi’s shoulder.</p><p>Bodhi rolls his eyes but grins at Jyn when she snaps a picture with her camera phone. “I can’t believe Luke serenaded you with Wonderwall. Twice.”</p><p>“I can. He does it about once a week. Sometimes wakes me up in the morning by singing it, actually, guitar and all.”</p><p>They both glance to Luke when he mumbles, eyes half-closed, “But you like it though, don’t you?”</p><p>“Of course, love,” Bodhi says, affectionately.</p><p>“I wouldn’t mind if Cassian did the same,” Jyn laughs, still a little tipsy. “He’s a wonderful singer. But all the songs he sings—I don’t mind that they’re in Spanish, but they all sound so <em>sad</em>.”</p><p>“I’ll teach ‘im,” Luke slurs decisively. “Wonderwall’s a really, really good song. Best song in the world. Not sad.”</p><p>“Aren’t the lyrics a little sad?”</p><p>Whatever the blond says next is muffled by Bodhi’s shoulder, so Bodhi shifts his head to a pillow. “You don’t mind if we stay longer, then? Luke’s got a bit of sobering up to do, otherwise I’ll have to drag him up the stairs to my flat.”</p><p>“Of course not. I’m just happy that I’m not here alone.” Jyn closes her eyes as she curls up under a blanket, feeling drowsy. When she opens her eyes again, it’s because Bodhi is handing her a glass of water.</p><p>“We would’ve come anyway, you know. But, erm. Cassian did text us, actually. About a week ago. He was really, really anxious about missing his flight back.”</p><p>That sounded like something Cassian would do. Would worry about. Were both of them putting on brave faces for each other?</p><p>“I’m going to clean up in the kitchen, if that’s alright,” Bodhi’s saying. “If you take a nap, I’m sure he’ll be home soon enough.”</p><p>Jyn dozes off to the clatter of dishes being washed and Luke’s light snoring.</p><p>--</p><p>“…was a terrible flight, but I’m just happy I made it. You have my gratitude for staying with Jyn tonight; the cab’s on me. Text me when the two of you make it home, alright?”</p><p>That voice. Jyn opens her eyes blearily when she hears the apartment door shut, followed by the jingling of the bells she and Cassian had decorated the doorknob with.</p><p>…Cassian?</p><p>The warmth she’s feeling in her chest has nothing to do with the fireplace and everything to do with Cassian coming towards her, to kneel by her side. The blankets are tucked up to her chin; she catches his tired smile a second before he leans in to kiss her forehead.</p><p>“Sorry I’m late,” he says, brushing a lock of her hair away from her face.</p><p>His fingers are cold. Jyn scoots back against the couch and throws back the blanket; she hears Cassian mutter something about needing to shower but he lays down with his back against her chest, and then Jyn pulls the blanket back up around them.</p><p>“Don’t be; it wasn’t your fault. Besides, everyone got your SOS to come keep me company.”</p><p>“Luke was passed out on the couch when I got here,” he says, amused. “What else did I miss?”</p><p>“Well, there was Baze in a Santa suit. And Chirrut did some insightful palm reading, so Luke still thinks he might be a psychic. I baked a lot. We had Chinese takeaway for dinner and a good amount of spiced wine. Luke played guitar… and I thought about you, the whole time.”</p><p>Wrapped in her arms, she feels him heave a sigh both exhausted and content. “I’ve missed you so, so much, Jyn. I’ve missed this. You don’t know how badly.”</p><p>“You’re here now though,” Jyn whispers. He can’t see her smile, but she’s sure he can hear it in her voice. “Welcome home.”</p>
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